I think an ol' Savvy vet is what that crew needs back there, eat some minutes and shed some guidance on our young grasshoppers.

...Ian White however doesnt get enough credit at all, I used to watch him play for the Leafs every game they played for the five years he was there and he's one of the most consistent D men there is imo. I was uber happy for him that he got to play with Lids as much as he did, even if it was for that one season...

our current defense is incomplete...there are only 6 of them. Got to have that #7 guy. I wonder who it will be? What was that guy over in Europe that the Wings had interest in? There was a thread about it, but I cannot seem to find it... I know he had an O with a slash through it or something like that...

Are you thinking of Ole-Kristian Tollefsen? We got him in the Leino trade from Philly. I know he was always pegged as a marginal NHL player and spent all of his time with the Wings in GR. I think he decided playing back in Europe was better for him.

QUOTE

(AtomicPunk @ February 4, 2010 - 12:16AM)

Imma let you finish, and your cap numbers are all good and all that, but imma let Kenny figure it out. Kenny's cap numbers were the best cap numbers this year.

Detroit's defense will be so bad that the best thing that can happen for the Wings in 2012-2013 is that the year be another lockout.

... what? Just how bad do you think they will be? Worst in the league? Worst in our conference... division? Please offer you insights as to why our D will be SO bad that it would be better to have a lock out than to play next season.

There are still a lot of remaining UFA defensemen, however for the most part they lack skill, youth or durability. Some of the available options include Pavel Kubina, Michal Rozsival, Jaroslav Spacek, Milan Jurcina, Carlo Colaiacovo, Scott Hannan, Brett Clark, Matt Gilroy, Chris Campoli, Kurtis Foster, Cam Barker...

Not an overly impressive list, although a couple are definitely worth a look at this point. If Ken Holland does throw an offer at one of these players chances are that player will play above and beyond expectations. For whatever reason when players pull that red and white jersey with the winged wheel over their head they play at the highest level imaginable.

Signing one of the above UFA's is a viable option, however I think the trade route is the more likely way to go, if nothing else because of the abundance of forwards on our roster.

We have 16 forwards with just two on a two-way contract being able to be sent down to Grand Rapids (Gustiv Nyquist and Damien Brunner) two of which are expected to make the big club out of training camp. We clearly need to shed a couple forwards, but who should it be?...

My personal opinion on players that are expendable are...

Franzen (streaky player that can be a real game changer, that would have the highest return value)
Miller / Eaves (great role players that are valuable to every team, that would have a decent return value)
Mursak / Emmerton (players that we don't necessarily need, that could fourish with a different team)

There are a few defensemen that have been rumoured to be on the move. This list includes Keith Yandle, Jay Bouwmeester, PK Subban, Dan Boyle, Mark Streit... Rumors are just that, so chances are some, if not all of these players will remian with their current teams. Sure, some are worth a phone call but I just don't see any of these players playing in Detroit next season. The most likely would probably be JayBo but I think that is a long shot as well.

None of this changes the fact that we need someone to fill out our blueline. So why not go after someone that will not require so much in return. One player in particular that I would love Kenny to go after would be Travis Hamonic. The kid is just 21 years old with two years under his belt over in Long Island. In those two years he has put up reasonable number on a weak Islanders team (135 Games Played, 7 Goals, 43 Assists for 50 Points) He's a big body at 6'2", 210 lbs. and he loves to use his big frame to his advantage (288 Hits and 275 Blocked Shots) and he's a right shot that we desperately need on our blueline.

I would love to have this kid, but am I being a little naive thinking that we could get him for a package something like Cory Emmerton, Jan Mursak and a later round pick (anywhere from 5th - 7th)...?

I think a pairing of Brendan Smith and Travis Hamonic would be absolutely lethal in a couple years...

Honestly, though, there's not a ton of value on the market and the available trade options are limited. I like Roszival, Colaicavo, and am actually really interested in the idea of Barker - albeit only if he comes dirt cheap.

I don't think that Subban is a realistic option, I'm not sure he'd fit into the organization well since he likes to be flashy and showy, which I'm fine with, but I imagine is a turn off for some of the brass. Beyond that, I don't think he's truly available.

Boyle would be a good offensive plug, but still doesn't give us that top-tier guy we'd all love to get. That said, the only person I see doing that is Yandle and he's already been discussed ad naseum.

Obviously, Holland and Co. will do something, but I imagine we likely go into the season with Kronwall, White, and Quincey as our top 3 defensemen.

i find a bit of a dichotomy in all the discussions about defense. to me, the worry that a lot of fans have goes like this: "our defense has been fairly bad the last few years and now we've lost half our top 6 in the last 2 offseasons. so this year we will totally be screwed!"

but here is what i think we need to consider: maybe the people we lost were the problem. maybe they were the weaker links defensively? and yes, i am even including lidstrom in that. because with all due respect to him, in his own end he had dropped off the last couple years. he was amazing on the PP the last few years and those great numbers helped mask the slide in his own end IMO. if you think back to the super embarrassing goal in game 4 against the preds where 3 guys chased the puck into the corner and left 2 guys wide open in front of the net, it was nick that left his man to chase; thats something you would have never seen from nick in his prime. please note i am not trying to pick on him specifically, but i know that if i accuse nick of poor play without providing an example, that i will get totally shelled. i will probably get totally shelled anyway.

but my point is this: we lost rafalski, stuart, and lidstrom. out of those 3, the only one i would say was effective in his own end before leaving was nick. rafalski was never a defensive specialist and was replaced by white. to me thats probably an upgrade in our own end. stuart really lacked any drive the last 1-2 years, so i honestly think quincey can replace him rather aptly assuming he gets his head out of his ass this coming season. so that just leaves nick. he is a player that could never be replaced, so that will just be through other players stepping up. kronwall has to continue to make strides as a top pairing guy. ericsson has to finally earn his contract and become a top 4 guy. smith has to come in and prove he is an nhl'er and show that he will be top 4 in the future. and kindl has to prove he can play every day in the nhl and contribute. thats how you replace nick. but as i said, i think in our own end it might not be as hard as i think nick excelled so much in the offensive aspects in his last few years.

i would have loved to get suter. it would have allowed guys to slot in a lot better. but maybe the changes we have made will end up for the better? maybe its time we finally put young guys in a position to succeed in a make or break type situation. at least if a guy like kindl fails we can finally know.

I love Maltby, but to say he wasn't a ****** is a dis-service to his career of douchebaggery.

if we can't land a top pairing guy, i think we just go with what we have. only sign a veteran if he is there to be #7. i think we need to give our guys a chance to step up. we need to give them more than a few preseason games. we need to give smith and kindl their chance to play every game. we need to give ericsson the chance to play top 4 and earn his contract. if we go signing a veteran guy, all it will do is cause us to second guess every time a young guy makes a mistake.

to me, thats the exact mistake we made with quincey. we only gave him these short little windows to perform. once he went to LA, he showed that if got minutes, he could play. while we certainly cant just give guys minutes because we want them to succeed, we also have to give them fair chances. i dont feel we've done that in that past because of our love for bringing in veterans. its time to find our next generation of players. sink or swim; s*** or get off the pot.

then if half the season goes by and someone isnt living up to expectations, thats when we bring someone in. but give them a decent chance not just training camp.

He is tradeable, yes, but if the Wings lose him to improve the D, they have literally NO one to replace those goals. Streakiness aside, 25-30 goals is not easy to replace. Its not like the Wings signed an elite scorer this off season.

Unless a lot of scoring is coming back the other way in a trade, the Wings need Franzen this year.

He is tradeable, yes, but if the Wings lose him to improve the D, they have literally NO one to replace those goals. Streakiness aside, 25-30 goals is not easy to replace. Its not like the Wings signed an elite scorer this off season.

Unless a lot of scoring is coming back the other way in a trade, the Wings need Franzen this year.

Finally, somebody that agrees with me. Franzen may float at times but he is good for 25+ goals a season. I think that he will have a big year and put up 40 this year. He is certainly capable.

I think that he will have a big year and put up 40 this year. He is certainly capable.

Capable, but not engaged enough. He SHOULD be a 35-40 goal scorer consistently given his skills and linemate. Instead, expect more of the same: scoring in bunches followed by long droughts in both production and effort, maybe some time spent injured, at least one odd excuse in the media along the lines of "not having fun" or "only care about playoffs", and come April he'll be sitting at around low 50s in points and high 20s in goals.

As far as shoring up the defense, Matt Gilroy could be intriguing and would at least be an improvement over Kindl and probably Ericsson, and he'll probably be decently cheap. Of course, we could always use one of these to get someone worth while :